


Change of Circumstances

by Breyito



Series: What If...? [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Rhodey, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Civil War Team Iron Man, Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Major Character Injury, Minor James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, Physical Disability, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Rhodey Feels, Steve Rogers is a Moron, Tony Stark Feels, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-10-20 00:09:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10650948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Breyito/pseuds/Breyito
Summary: Rhodey doesn't fall.Instead, Iron Man shatters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So.....  
> I'm sorry? I promise I'm writing my other fics, I've just having a really bad block; and I couldn't write anything. I also got into like, 10 new fandoms, so my imagination has been splitted on many pairings and headcanons. I hope to be able to write at least one work for each, but IDK.  
> I am trying to go back to writing, and I hope that this will help me. I just couldn't hold this back anymore, too many feels after a few fics I've read (I don't remember the names right now).  
> Wanda, Scott and T. Ross are also mentioned, but I didn't tag them because they have a small part in this.  
> And if my distaste for some is very evident, that was the idea.  
> Not betad, like always, so any mistakes please let me know.  
> (Also, I'm posting this before bed because I'm a coward).
> 
> Hope you like it!

“Rhodey, I’m flying death stick!”

“TONY!”

“Rhodey! I-I’m falling! I lost control of the suit!”

“FRIDAY! Do something!”

“ _I can’t, Colonel! I’ve lost all contact and control of the Iron Man suit!_ ”

“ _TON_ -!”

The Iron Man suit crashes.

-{}-

“I’m sorry, I-” is as far as Wilson gets to say, before a repulsor to the chest sends him flying a good twenty feet and knocks him down.

Rhodey slowly lifts himself up, and he looks more imposing than normal in the War Machine suit, without his helmet off. He watches as the chopper flies off, with his unconscious best friend in it; and prays for Tony to be alright.

“ _Sir, we’ve got Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Ant-Man secured._ ” He hears through his auxiliary comm (Tony always tells him to use one in case the helmet or the suit gets compromised).

“Good. I have Falcon knocked out here.” He pauses a moment, to take a deep breath. Introducing a quick code on his left gauntlet, Natasha’s earpiece disconnects from theirs. “Arrest Black Widow too, Commander Hain. She aided Rogers and Barnes in their escape.” He adds, and after a soft surprised gasp from the woman, she answers.

“ _Copy that, Colonel._ ”

He switches the comm off and after putting on his helmet; he takes off after the helicopter. 

-{}-

“He hasn’t waked up yet?” Rhodey asks a nurse, looking through the glass where Tony’s being examined.

“No, Sir. It might take a while. With these types of lesions…” The blond nurse looks at him with pity in his eyes for a second and then walks away.

Rhodey feels Vision as he stands at his side, also looking at Tony.

“How could this _happen_?” he hisses, glaring at the android. Vision flinches minutely.

“I became distracted.” He answers, not lowering his gaze from the harsh Colonel’s eyes, even if he wants to.

“Distracted? I didn’t know that was _possible_.” Says Jim; still so, so angry.

“Neither did I.” The android states and his crestfallen expression makes Rhodey realize his anger shouldn’t be aimed at Vision, but at someone else. He quickly leaves the room. In the hallway, he puts on his earpiece.

“Before you take the prisoners to whatever jail is going to actually _contain_ _them_ ; I want to talk to Romanoff.” He says into his comm.

“ _She is restrained in a truck along with Barton and Maximoff. Letting her out would be too much of a risk._ ” Answers Everett Ross.

“Then don’t let her out. I’ll go where the truck is, and talk to her through the door.” Jim states, and Ross sighs, but acquiesces.

“ _Alright. I can get you ten minutes._ ”

“Oh, don’t worry. What I have to say won’t take that long.”

-{}-

On his way to the parking lot, FRIDAY shows him a report. He curses, and his rage augments.

It’s luck, he guesses, that Wilson and Lang, considered the least threatening without their equipment, are already in the Raft. One of them (more likely Wilson) will give him the information he needs. But first, he has something to take care of.

-{}-

When the outer door of the back of the truck opens, two of the prisoners look up. The electric fence is still on, maintaining the white, bluish glow of the undercurrents of energy. Wanda’s head is in Barton’s shoulder; she looks asleep. The collar in her neck is on too, and there’s a complex straight jacket on her. Rhodey does kind of feel sorry for her, but (even if it’s not completely fair) he guesses this is payback for locking the Avengers (locking _Tony_ ) in their worst fears and making the team live through them; for destroying people’s lives in a tantrum when she was working with a crazy murder robot, and having a hand (then hiding it) in creating said murder robot. It’s her turn to feel helpless and terrified.

 Barton’s hands are cuffed together with a special kind restrains, they look like mitts but are made of a stronger material; they were designed to prevent the wearer of using their hands to escape and/or grab something as a weapon. His feet are cuffed to the floor of the truck with some magnetic charge. Romanoff has a similar pair of mitts on her hands, but hers are filled with a numbing agent so that she cannot feel her hands at all. Her ankles are tied to each other, and those bonds are connected to her waist and from then to her wrists and to her neck. The material used, although flexible, is one that not even the Hulk could break easily. Natasha also has a nice shiner on the right side of her face, dry blood over the cut on her eyebrow and a split lip. Rhodey suddenly feels a pang of appreciation and respect towards Commander Hain.

Clint looks defiant and angry. Natasha has a blank face, and empty eyes; but her posture shows pride, not regret. Jim hates that she can is so calm when his best friend is lying on a hospital bed because of _her_.

“I hope you’re happy. It’s _my_ best friend who is in there, not yours. Not Cap’s. It’s _Tony_. You know, the guy you were supposed to back up?” Says Rhodey, rage barely contained; body vibrating with fury.

“Steve was not gonna stop.” Says Natasha, like that explained _something_.

“So you… let them _go_.” Rhodey states, hoping that making her hear what she did might make her _understand_.

“He was not going to _stop._ ” she repeats, like she’s talking to a stupid child. “I considered my options and the probable outcomes and I choose the one with the least fatality and higher success for all of us.”

“Really?” Jim asks, not believing her nerve. “So you made your own calculations and…what? Didn’t consider that Tony had done the same, with better information, a _thousand_ times over? Did you conveniently forgot that he is a genius and his ‘considerations’ tend to be a dozen times more accurate?”

“Oh, please.” Natasha snorts. “Since when has his ‘genius’ being useful when it comes to lives and collateral damage? We are talking about the man that was too stupid to notice his business partner/godfather was selling to terrorists, and the man that built _Ultron_.”

“Stane had us all fooled, Romanova. And _you_ are the one conveniently forgetting that Tony didn’t create Ultron on his own. Dr. Banner and that little witch over there helped a _lot_. Remember: Ultron had two fathers and one mother.”

“Wanda was under too much pressure! She is not responsible! She is just a _child!_ ” whispers Barton furiously, defending her as he has done since she arrived on their lives.

“Really? A twenty-five year old woman is a _child_ to you? A former agent of HYDRA, ally of Ultron and active Avenger is a child to you?” says Rhodes, with a stony expression. “Remind me again: at what age did you start killing by yourself? At what age do most soldiers become soldiers? At what age did she _volunteered_ for human experimentation at HYDRA’s loving hands?” he pauses for a moment, as he watches the blood drain from the archer’s face. “She is not a kid, she is a woman that all of you coddled and protected and let believe she could get away with whatever she wanted instead of taking responsibility for the death toll and damage her tantrum made.” He looks at Romanova now, straight in the eye “And if we are talking about Ultron; why don’t we talk about the relief efforts, the press conferences, the medical bills and the public crucifixion Tony went through because Banner took off and never came back to help him, and all of you hid Wanda in the compound and hissed at anyone even _hinting_ she was not to be trusted?”

“Still. I took a decision and I stand by it.” The assassin says after a few moments of silence. “It was the right choice.”

“For you, maybe. Did you stop to think about how this might affect others? How it _did_ affect others?” Rhodey asks, already knowing it’s in vain, that this woman will not back down from her ‘better choice’.

“Who? Stark? He will bounce back from whatever minor thing his fall caused him.” Romanova says, in a dismissive tone.

“Yeah, his suit is one of the greatest technological marvels, right? I bet he barely has any scratches.” Adds Barton, as if he could _possibly_ comprehend what the suit is or does or works.

“Really?” Rhodey bites out “then why don’t you go in and tell him yourself, uh? Oh, I remember, _because he is still hasn’t woke up from the surgery to save his life!!_ ” he yells, a traitorous tear sliding down his cheek.

Absolute silence follows the outburst.

“What do you mean?” Romanova finally asks; eyes wide. Barton’s expression is one of dismay too. “What happened?” she insists, when Jim doesn’t answer her right away. Rhodey lets out a hysterical bout of laughter; it’s hilarious how _worried_ she sounds, considering she’s the main reason he is lying on a bed upstairs. “Rhodes, answer me!!” she demands. “ _James!_ ”

“ _He is paralyzed from the neck down, Natasha!!_ ” he finally replies, screaming. “That’s what happened.” He ends, almost in a whisper. He can feel more tears rolling down his face but he doesn’t care.

Right now, he only cares about the growing and overwhelming _horror_ that his revelation causes. He relishes the way their eyes widen and their faces pale; how water starts to form in their eyes and how sweat shines in their foreheads. Their sickly pallor _sings_ to him, and it’s not enough, not _nearly enough_ suffering for what they did to Tony; but it’s satisfying nonetheless.

“I will make sure that you never see the outside of your cells.” He tells them, clear as crystal, rage burning in his eyes. “The last memory Tony will have of you will be your betrayals; because I will put you in a hole so _deep_ not even he is going to find you.” Jim, in a far corner of his brain, thinks that it might be bad how much he enjoys the realization downing on Romanova’s face and in Barton’s eyes; that they will never be able to make up for what they did, or beg for his forgiveness. He doesn’t particularly care. He shuts the outer backdoor of the truck their faces, cutting off their pleas and yelling.

He has a certain falcon to interview and a couple of rouge soldiers to put down.  

\---{}---

It’s easy to make Ross trust him, Jim is a military man after all, and all his records are spotless. Besides, the Secretary must already know about Tony’s surgery, even if not his condition; so really, the man has every reason to believe Rhodey wants to apprehend Rogers and Barnes, and every motive to let the Colonel do it. And he will bring them back; just not in the state Ross might want them.

(Jim would never trust that man with any form of the Super Soldier Serum. Ever.)

FRIDAY is furious too. She is going to help him as much as she can; cutting off the audio of the security cameras, so that he can talk to Wilson alone. Lang tries to catch his attention, with a slight against the Starks (stupid man, just out of prison and offered a second chance and goes and ruins it for someone he met for five minutes and a face on a few t-shirts; Jim bets he doesn’t even _know_ what the Accords are, let alone have read them). He ignores him and goes straight to Wilson.

“How is Stark?” he asks, turning around. His seems nervous and Jim almost pities him, because he knows all about his partner, Riley, the one he could do nothing but watch fall. Almost but not really; because now Jim is the one that will have one more nightmare to add to his roaster. And this time the nightmare will continue in the day and wake hours.

“He is…stable, is the best we can say right now.” He half lies. He doesn’t want to give the other man any reason to doubt him; and a paralyzed best friend would do just that. “But right now, I need to find Steve.” It burns like acid, to say that name again, but he has to, he can’t let Wilson suspect anything.

“Yeah, right. The good cop routine won’t work on me, man;” The other pilot says, suddenly defensive, “so you better bring the bad cop down here, because-”

“Stop.” Rhodey interrupts, putting the right code in the watch to cut off the audio for half a minute. “I just cut the audio, they won’t be able to hear us. Look,” he shows him the photo of the dead psychologist, “that man was supposed to talk with Barnes. Instead, Zemo did. Now, your friends are going to face him _and_ other super soldiers on their own. They need back-up, and you know it. I want to bring Zemo in; so…” he finishes, making eye to eye contact.

“Look, I’ll tell you, but you have to go alone and as a friend.” Says Wilson, guilt eating away at him and yet still unwilling to give up on his so-called ‘leader’ without insurance. Jim can appreciate a loyalty as much as any military officer; but Wilson is either too naïve to notice when someone is lying to him, or trusts in his superiors and/or teammates way too much. Jim can see the murder shine in his own eyes reflected in the crystal; so he guesses it’s the second.

“Easy.” He says, not really lying. He wouldn’t want any witnesses, after all. He doesn’t plan on bringing anyone else besides himself back, after all. No one… _alive_ , at least.

\---{}---

“Colonel?” asks Rogers, shield at the ready. Barnes is behind him, with a rifle Jim is sure the man won’t hesitate to use.

“Don’t shoot” he answers. “I came here to capture Zemo and clear up this misunderstanding.”

“Really?” says the Captain, with a hopeful smile on his face. Rhodey really, _really_ wants to punch it out of his face.

“Yes.” He bites out. _Remember Jim,_ he says to himself, _you can’t kill them until you have found Zemo and apprehended him. Besides, you **need** these morons to fight the other Winter Soldiers._

“Where is Tony?” he keeps asking, looking behind him like he expects the Iron Man armor to show up out of nowhere ( _God, how much I wish that would happen_ ).

“He is in the hospital.” It’s the clipped answer Jim gives him.

“What? Is he hurt?” God, the little patience Rhodey has is starting to vanish.

“I’ll tell you later.” When he sees that Rogers wants to protest to this, Jim interrupts him “Every minute we spend here is a minute the soldiers have to prepare. We have to hurry.”

Barnes stops Rogers from saying anything stupid and delaying them even more with a hand on his shoulder; and Jim almost thanks him.

-{}-

“…How nice to find a flaw.” Zemo ends his ‘bad-guy-speech’, as Tony calls them and Rogers’ face is just priceless. The Sokovian looks further back and frowns “I was expecting Mr. Stark, but I imagine that he won’t be flying again anytime soon. Am I right, Colonel?” Rhodey bristles, and Rogers wants to ask what he means, but Zemo doesn’t give let them and continues “Besides, I guess you are still going to be upset in his behalf.” He smiles.

A video starts playing.

“I know that road.” Rhodey hears himself say.

-{}-

“Don’t bullshit me, Rogers! Did.you. _know_?” Jim just wants to hear him _say it_.

“…Yes.”

Rhodey loses it.

-{}-

“So that’s what you came here to do?” spites out the blonde, “To arrest us and put us in prison like we are _criminals_?” he seethes spitting out the word, like it disgust him; trying to get out of the special cuffs that are around his wrists and ankles. They are reinforced with synthetic vibranium, so he is not getting out of those anytime soon.

“Wake up, princess. You _are_ criminals; because you _decided_ to become criminals; we had nothing to do with it. Guess what: destroying millions on property and killing civilians and officers of the law is not ‘doing the right thing’.” Rhodes decides to leave the lecture of charges to the actual authorities, so he stops there; it’s not like the captain is actually listening to him anyway; he is much too worried being offended by the ‘betrayal of a teammate’. “And nope. Actually, I came here to kill both of you and turn Zemo in.” Rhodey answers the previous question. The King and the Captain are the only two awake right now; Barnes and Zemo knocked out for the trip to the UN facility of choice (they are still deliberating which one they should go to; after how the last time they had apprehended the soldiers turned  out…well, no country wants a repeat performance of _that_ ). T’Challa looks at him with a mix of surprise and chagrin and Jim snorts.

“Please, like you came here with anything but revenge and death in mind. You were ready to kill Rogers to get to Barnes.” He says, looking right into the monarch’s eyes. The other man has no choice but to acknowledge it with a tilt of his head. Rogers, meanwhile, had recovered his vocal chords (unfortunately).

“What? You were going to try to kill us?” he asks, outraged.

“I wouldn’t have _tried_. I am not Tony; I’m not afraid of using all the firepower I’ve got to take you down. If I had decided to act on my desires, you _would be dead_.” He says in a deadpan tone. It’s the truth, after all.

“Why!?” Rogers yells, like the idea is so far out of reach for him. And Rhodey…

Rhodey is just _done_.

“ _Why!?_ ” he roars, punching the wall, making a dent in the concrete. “Because my best friend is paralyzed from the neck down because of you!! Because you split the Avengers right down the middle and betrayed Tony!! Because you supported and believed a fucking _HYDRA agent_ over your teammates! Because you have the nerve to talk shit about responsibility and _egos_ about Tony when he is the only one of your bunch that actually cares about the people you endanger!! Because you killed people, killed _children_ , to protect your BFF from imaginary danger and have the nerve of yelling at Tony for protecting Maximoff of a very real and _deserved_ danger. Because you treat him like dirt, even if he clothes you and feds you and keeps the press, the government and the victims off you all. Because you are a _moron_ and a coward masquerading as a hero; someone that didn’t give a thought to the hundreds of legit-SHIELD agents on the field, retired and with _families_ when you dumped the whole database on the fucking internet!” he takes a deep breath; enjoying the growing horror on the soldier’s face at the realization of his actions. “Because you don’t _think_ , you don’t _listen_ and you are.not. _right_. You got lucky _so_ many times…but that’s over. You are gonna pay for what you did; and Tony is not going to be there to help you out of it. Because _your_ stupid war against the world took away from him the most precious thing he had…his ability to _build._ And when he finds out that you hid this from him? For _years_ , while leaving under his roof? He is never going to forgive you for that. For either of those things.” 

“Why did you change your mind?” asks T’Challa. “You planned to kill them. Why did you decide not to?”

Rhodes’s mouth moves. It’s a bitter, painful line across his face; but it’s not a smile.

“I was gonna kill them because I knew that they would never ( _he_ would never)” Jim says pointing at Rogers “get convicted for what they did; because the public has been brainwashed for decades about him and his morals. But now? I got proof that he is just a selfish bastard.” He finishes, tapping his helmet with a gauntlet.

“But Mr. Barnes-”the king starts “he was tortured and mind wiped by HYDRA, was he not? That is on the files.” He says, guilt slowly starting to creep onto him. “And he did not set the bomb in Vienna; that was Zemo. I chased him for my father’s death when he was not to blame-” James interrupts him.

“Look, Your Majesty, he still has to go to trial for the Winter Soldier murders. All of them. Furthermore, he was not controlled by Zemo when Rogers and he made a bridge and a tunnel full of people collapse…and you had your part on it as well; you’ll have to answer for that, diplomatic immunity be damned.” Rhodes states, looking into the monarch’s eyes. “People _died_ , King T’Challa…that’s not something, that _shouldn’t be_ something you just get away with. So you get your people working on your case and if you are feeling guilty and want to help Barnes, be my guest. Your country is one of the most advanced in the technology department, medical too; I’m sure your specialists can come up with a way to help Barnes with his conditioning.” He puts a hand on the young king’s shoulder. “But Rogers, Romanova, Barton, Maximoff, Wilson and Lang? They will answer to the UN for the mess they caused.” Jim ends his answer crossing his arms, and T’Challa understands that he won’t change his mind.

Then the back-up shows up and the time to talk is over. Rogers is dragged inside a Quinjet kicking and screaming, but he is tossed inside a cell anyways. Zemo goes to another cell and so does Barnes. Fortunately Rogers’ cell is made of soundproof materials, so all the yelling he is doing can’t affect the people working on the transport. He makes sure that the materials are strong enough to stop Barnes as well (just because he doesn’t have his mechanic arm and Jim turn it into ashes doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous).

Rhodey decides to come inside and make sure that it is actual UN personnel the one they handled the soldiers to, not Thaddeus Ross’. He also makes sure that the HYDRA base is secured and searched through by Everett Ross and his people, the Joint Counter Terrorist Center. He asks FRIDAY to contact Vison and tell him to monitor them, as he is the only other active Avenger right now. He exits the suit but leaves it in vigilant mode, so it records everything. Just in case. He sits down on one of the chairs and sighs.

He only hopes to get back to Tony soon; he has already been away for too long.


	2. Solutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wants Extremis.  
> Rhodey gets revenge.  
> Dark Rhodey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO...! Apparently my word is worth nothing.  
> I know you want read the end of MWL, but I just can't seem to finish it. Also, I had this written down on different notebooks and the words wouldn't leave my mind, so I had to finish it and post it.  
> It's 6 AM here and I haven't slept yet, so please be nice! No my first language and no beta, so any mistakes please tell me.

“I want Extremis” Tony says, face hard and eyes harder. He is still recovering from the last surgery, the black stitches on his forehead matching the bruises on the rest of his body. If his body were visible. He now prefers to have it all covered, so he can’t see what he can’t feel.

“Tony…” Starts Rhodey, while Vision looks on from a few feet back. The android wants to support his creator and be there for him physically (something, he learned recently, that is essential to humankind and much preferable to a phone call or written text). But at the same time, shame (or what he believes is shame) and guilt (this feeling he recognizes, because he has felt it since the first time the doctors told them that Mr. Stark will never walk again with those injuries) rise within him and he wants, as the saying goes ‘the floor to swallow him’. He has to battle this urge to disappear, because he _can_ do it, and that makes it so much harder.

“I want Extremis, James. I finished it; it’s _safe_. The only reason I didn’t use it before was because of my ‘retirement’; I wasn’t supposed to go back on the field.”

“Tony, you don’t know that for sure.” The Colonel says, trying to stop this.

“I am as sure as I’ll ever be. And I don’t care about the risks. I never have.” He jokes with a mimicry of a smile.

“Please, Tones, just wait for a bit-”

“Wait for what!?” The brunet yells, tears falling from his eyes. “Huh? For what? I won’t miraculously be able to move just because I want to, Jim! Or do you want me to wait until the formula is more secure? Who is going to do that? Dr. Cho, who had already helped me with it all she can? Bruce; that fucked off to god-knows-where the minute things got complicated? Like he gives a damn!! Maya, maybe? Can you talk to the dead?” He asks sardonically. “Or are you gonna improve Extremis by yourself? You are smart, James, an engineer on your own right; but you know _shit_ about biology.”

Tony is right; there’s nothing James Rhodes _or_ War Machine can do to help him. Jim hardly remembers feeling so useless before (lie; he does remember: it was a constant company for the worst three months of his life: no matter _what_ he did, he couldn’t find Tony).

“It’s just… I can’t lose you, Tony. Please, don’t make me sign your death warrant.” Rhodey begs, eyes on the floor, trying to not let the tears out.

“You won’t, I promise. The formula is as secure as it can possible be; and we will proceed with all the precautions and the best medical team monitoring me.”  

There is only silence in the room for a few minutes, none of the men crossing each other’s eyes; until Vision speaks up.

“Mr. Stark…I am truly-” he starts, clenching his hands. This sweater suffocates him, even when he doesn’t have the need to breathe.

“This is _not_ your fault, Vision.” Rhodey interrupts him. Tony nods in agreement. “This was Rogers and his crew, who dragged us all into their mess.” he states, looking at the android in the eyes. “Tony-” He starts again, begging.

“I _can’t_ wait anymore, Rhodey.” The brunette cuts him off, finally showing him his eyes. They are desperate. “I won’t live like this.”

“You can _learn_ how to live like this-” Jim tries one last time, wrecked.

“I don’t want to! I have to depend on everyone for _everything!_ I can’t eat or scratch my fucking nose or take a fucking _piss_ without help! I can see the wounds on my body but I can’t _feel_ them and _god_ I’d never thought…I never thought I’d ever wish to feel agony, but anything is better than this.” He takes a few deep breaths and finishes: “I’d rather die than never be able to build something again.” The threat is clear on his irises; and so is the resolution.

Rhodey swallows.

“Alright, Tony, alright.” Jim concedes, giving up. “Just…let me do something for you first.” He asks, and walks out of the door.

Vision phases outside the room to follow him, hesitant to ask anything.

“What are you going to do, Colonel?” he finally enquires.

“I’m going to get rid of some vermin first.”

\---{}---

“So, you finally decided to show up. Took you a while.” Sneers the archer, defensive even before Jim enters the room completely. Good; the pilot was wondering if he would start to hesitate, were any of the ‘Roguevengers’ to show remorse. It doesn’t seem likely, though; so Rhodey is relieved: he won’t feel _that_ guilty when he leaves this place.

“Funny. It’s like you think I have much time to visit criminals.” He retorts, scoffing, as he stops a few steps away from the glass wall between them; boots hitting the floor heavily. The Colonel leaves a metal suitcase in the floor, beside him.

They are in a not too big square room, and it only has small cells. The others are empty; to avoid any undesired affiliations or trades between this ex-spy and other inmates. It’s completely isolated, deep in the gut of the prison. Perfect for what James needs to do.

“And whose fault is that?” asks Barton, bitter as all hell. Jim guesses he would be too, if he was so stupid and gullible as to leave his cozy vacations and loving family for a two minutes phone call.

“Yours, actually. There was _no_ mind control this time; every decision you made was your own, one hundred percent.”

Barton smacks his fists into the glass wall, face red and eyes furious. His uniform is a sickly yellow, and it only adds to his unhinged image.

“So why are you here for, then?” the blonde questions, undeterred in his efforts to see this as his ‘rightful liberation’.

“Oh, I just wanted to see how you were enjoying the accommodations; seeing that you are mildly comfortable in your new permanent residence.” Rhodes answers, a mocking smile on his face.

“We will get out.” Barton says, confidently. “Someone is going to get us out or we will be needed again; and we will be free. It’s SHIELD all over again.” The blond finishes, smirking.

Rhodey laughs.

“Oh, but there is a difference here, Barton. You were _useful_ then, to them. We don’t need you (or anyone of your… _clique_ ) anymore. There are younger, faster, _better_ archers and ‘spies’ and pilots and magic users out there.” He laughs again, and the guards retreat from their posts when the Colonel dismisses them with a gesture. The laugh is chilling. “And even if there _were_ someone stupid enough to want to work with any of you again, you would be useless to them.” He walks towards the glass, smiling all the while, so that he can whisper to Barton. “Want to know why?”

When the archer doesn’t respond, Jim smirks maliciously.

“Because I’m gonna hurt you, like you hurt him. I’m going to inflict upon you such irreversible damage… You took away the most precious thing he had; so, I’m going to do the same to you.”

“To me?” asks Barton, trying to not show his nerves. “What do you mean?” his eyes are wide; he’s probably worrying for real about the safety of his family for the first time since he left them without a word.

“Oh, not _just_ you. I meant _all_ of you. I’m going to take away the only thing that might give you value to people powerful enough to get you out; so you _won’t get out._ ” The smile he gives the former spy is utterly terrifying. Barton swallows.

“And what would that be? Furthermore, how would you do it?” the archer asks, thinking that this man has never seen or participated in torture before; he doesn’t have the experience or the guts to do it, not like Natasha and him.

Jim, in turn, thinks about those three months he spent not eating or sleeping; running on nightmares and half-hopes. He thinks about the men they managed to capture and keep alive after the attack. Of how ruthless and efficient the techniques the afghan base taught him were. About the many frantic prayers he heard and the broken bones and the splattered blood; and how much he didn’t care; because he _had_ to find Tony. Of the uselessness of it all and how he never really regretted it, because they _had_ found Tony, missing bits and all.

So Jim catches Barton’s eyes and this time, the murderous glint is finally seen.

“Well…I would start with dear backstabbing Natalia: take away her pretty face that allows her to deceive people so easily; maybe erase that poisonous smile of hers…a little of sulfuric acid on her water supply should take care of that. Of course, it depends on how much she swallows, otherwise the damage may be _too_ severe for her to survive. Oh! But then…hmm, perhaps I should slice her tendons first: wrists, elbows, knees, heels…so her body won’t be used as a weapon again. Tough call.” Clint starts to sweat. “Wilson and Lang don’t have much going for them; so I believe throwing them in prison and threatening their families should be enough.” Jim smirks when Barton shivers, probably thinking about his own vulnerable family. “Of course, no one said they have to be _nice_ prisons. Rikers, the Twin Towers…maybe Alcatraz, if Lang wants to be close to home.” Rhodey lets the archer take that in, the names must be familiar to him, after all.

“And Wanda…” the blonde’s eyes snap up to meet his, nervous. Jim can’t understand his attachment to that maniac woman, seriously, what the hell. “She has only ever used her powers to hurt, and never bothered to learn how to control them; Vision will take them away, obliterate them, with complaints of anyone, really. I bet I can make it hurt too; because I imagine getting that pesky red mist was painful, so why _shouldn’t_ it hurt when it’s drained from her?” He sniggers. “She will be put in prison, _obviously_. Sokovia is destroyed, but there are a few prisons left standing that can take her; and being honest with you, the only reason the sokovians haven’t asked for her head in a platter yet is her powers, but with that gone…well.” The expression on the pilot’s face is of pure joy. “Or perhaps a South African prison will be better, who knows.” He shrugs. “Now Barnes…ironically, he is the most likely of you to get out of a life sentence; seeing as he is an _actual_ victim of HYDRA” Jim emphasizes the word, hinting at Wanda’s past. “He will have to go to trial for his crimes, past and present. As a matter of fact, he is the only one of your bunch that _wants_ to make amends; he will probably be shown mercy for that."

He takes a big breath, like he is getting ready for a grand finale.

“Now Rogers. He deserves a _lot_ worse, but he’ll be given an antidote of the serum. Oh, yes” he smirks when he sees Barton’s face. “there _is_ an antidote. Fury’s people had it done half-way when Tony found the formula, and he finished it (originally for Barnes, so that he could be with Rogers and treated by the best without risking people _that_ much); with a little help from Bruce’s papers (even if the man in question never knew about it). We will try it on Steve first, to see how it works. Chances are that he will die in horrible agony while his body fights not to shrink down; age suddenly until he reaches his real age (and probably die); will have to live deformed because of the Serum trying to counteract the Antidote: his ribs probably constricting his organs or one arm too heavy for his body or one single leg left in the same size as now. So glad he is always willing to let the ‘good people’ experiment on him, right? Of course, in case it actually works like it’s supposed to, solitary confinement in somewhere in the Artic will be part of his sentence.”

Rhodes waits and waits and waits until Barton cracks. After all, the longer he takes in here, the longer the guards get to rest. He doesn’t think anyone will complain.

“And me? What will you do to me?”

“That’s easy: I’m going to fuck up your arms. I did consider just cutting them off…” the blonde’s face goes white as chalk “but that would be _way_ too problematic for the people that are saddled with you. Could you imagine having to ask for help to eat or swallow your embarrassment as to not crap yourself?” he asks, looking at the (still) archer’s eyes, making him remember Tony’s condition. “I also thought about removing your eyeballs, or throwing sulfuric acid in your face too, or something like that. But then I realized that I wanted you to be able to _see_ what happens to you; the sneers in your family’s faces when (if, sorry) they come to visit you and the tremors that will make you spill things and not be able to write or read well. I have it all figured it out now: I’ll fracture your fingers over and over, until there’s no chance that therapy will heal them. There are a _lot_ of little bits to play with in there, with all those nerve endings and little tendons. I will break your wrists and cut your muscles; shatter your bones and ligaments…it will be a long process, and by the end of it, you will be lucky enough to hold a fork. But you will _never_ shoot another arrow to someone.” He finishes.

With those last words, he bends down to open the suitcase.

Barton swallows, and gets ready to scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, did you like it?  
> I'm not entirely convinced by the ending. I feel like I don't have the stomach to write everything I described in detail? Sorry ñ.ñ  
> What do you think? Please leave a kudos, a comment or an idea! IDK if this is completely finished or if I will add something else, but you never know...
> 
> ALSO! I'm thinking of starting a Tumblr, to post all my ideas that probably won't ever be a complete fic but I want to share? Problem is, I'm lousy at it. I have an URL now, but I can't send asks to anyone! Help, pretty please? ^^U

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading my anger xD  
> Did you like it? Did you think it lacks something?  
> Please leave a comment, a kudo and/or and idea ñ.ñ
> 
> Kisses!


End file.
